Liverpool signing Sadio Mane's first day at Melwood

Express Sport brings you the first pictures of Sadio Mane after he sealed his deal to join Liverpool

"It's the same with Manchester United stumping up £30m for Henrikh Mkhitaryan, a 27-year-old who doesn't score as much as Mane."

But Thompson believes manager Jurgen Klopp's latest signing will be important as Mane will finally inject much-needed pace into the Reds' frontline.

He added: "I see it as an absolutely pivotal signing, one that was needed as the other attacking midfielders are more technical players and don't really have the pace.

"Philippe Coutinho, Adam Lallana and Roberto Firmino are all quite similar so I'm not surprised Klopp has looked to add something different - a player that gives them a threat on the counter-attack and also adds goals.

"Daniel Sturridge also seems to have lost his pace a bit, probably due to the amount of injuries, which we saw with Michael Owen, so there's only really Divock Origi who can stretch teams."